


'Tis The Season

by seraphina_snape



Category: Leverage
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Humor, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot wakes up and finds a <s>bomb</s>present in his living room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Tis The Season

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theron09](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theron09/gifts).



> For theron09, who asked for Eliot/Quinn at the [leverageland](http://leverageland.livejournal.com) Winterfest.

Eliot woke up on Christmas morning and was immediately aware that something was off. Keeping his eyes closed and his body still, Eliot cataloged what he could with one of his senses shut out. His house was as quiet as always. He wasn't shackled and his bed wasn't disturbed at all. A faint scent of citrus from last night's dessert still hung in the air. 

Eliot couldn't sense another person in the room, so he slowly opened his eyes. His bedroom was unchanged and empty except for him. Frowning, Eliot sat up and grabbed the baseball bat that sat within easy reach. He cleared the room carefully even though there weren't any hiding places and then made his way out into the hallway. 

It wasn't until Eliot entered the living room that he found the disturbance: a small parcel, wrapped in cheery red wrapping paper with green Christmas trees printed on it. The parcel sat on his coffee table, right next to his Santa Sleigh cookie dish, the only Christmas decoration he owned. 

Eliot quickly cleared the rest of the house, but whoever had broken in was long gone. A glance at the clock revealed that it was shortly after six am, so Eliot grabbed his phone and called Hardison.

It took eighteen rings for Hardison to pick up. "What?" he growled into the phone. 

"Someone broke into my place." 

"It's like three in the morning, Eliot. It's _Christmas_! Isn't a man allowed to sleep in on Christmas? First Parker gets me up at the crack of dawn and now you? Because someone broke into your place? Just dump them at the nearest police station – or hospital – and go back to sleep."

"They're not here anymore," Eliot admitted grudgingly. "They broke in while I was asleep and they left this." He took a picture of the parcel and sent it to Hardison. 

"Okay." 

"Okay? Someone broke into my house, Hardison! That's not okay. They left something – it's probably a bomb!" 

"Huh. _Or_ ," Hardison said with some dramatic effect, "it's a freaking Christmas gift." 

Eliot made the effort to smooth out his scowl and count to ten, but his voice still came out angry. "Or," he mimicked Hardison's speech pattern, "it's a freaking bomb!"

"A gift-wrapped bomb? Really?"

"I got enemies, Hardison! And yeah, enemies sick enough to gift-wrap a bomb." Eliot let out a sharp breath. "Look, just bring your robot doohickey over and scan it or something."

"How about you try unwrapping it first? And then, when it turns out to be a harmless Christmas present, come find me and apologize." 

Eliot narrowed his eyes. "Why are you so sure it's a present? What do you know?"

"I know _nothing_ ," Hardison lied. "I'm going back to sleep."

With that, Hardison hung up the phone. Eliot glared down at it for a moment before he shifted his glare to the gift-wrapped bomb. Except – Hardison could be downright paranoid. He wasn't one to ignore a possible threat, and he had all of them under surveillance. If anything was up, he'd know about it. And it _was_ Christmas.

Carefully, Eliot sat down on his couch and reached for the gift. "If I get blown up, I'm gonna haunt your ass, Hardison," Eliot muttered as he cut through the tape with his pocketknife. The gift was small enough to fit into the palm of one hand. Peeling back the wrapping paper revealed a black box. Inside were a flash drive and a note. The note simply said "call me!" and a phone number. Before Eliot could dial the number, the doorbell rang. 

Flash drive clutched in one hand, and his baseball bat in the other, Eliot headed for the front door. He put the flash drive on the small table that held his keys and opened the door. 

Quinn, hitter and hired gun, stood on his stoop wearing a suit and an expensive wool coat. His cheeks were a little red from the cold and a few snowflakes were caught in his hair and on his shoulders. 

"Hardison called me," Quinn said, casting an amused eye at the baseball bat. "Hello, Eliot."

"Quinn," Eliot replied, giving a small shrug in response to Quinn's look. 

"Is this your usual paranoia, or do you always react extra-vigilant to a harmless Christmas present?" 

"If it just appears in my house without warning," Eliot grouched, "I'm gonna assume it's a bomb." 

"I'm gonna file that away for future reference."

"Future reference?" Eliot waved Quinn into the house and shut the door, leaning the baseball bat against the wall. He snatched up the flash drive and headed back to the living room, Quinn following on his heels.

In Eliot's living room, Quinn shrugged out of his coat and suit jacket and took a step closer. "Do you remember what you said to me when I tried this the first time around?" he asked, leaning in a little to place a kiss on Eliot's lips. 

"That I couldn't do this while we were on opposite sites more than we were on the same side." Eliot stepped back even though he was tempted to throw caution in the wind and wrap Quinn up in his arms, never to let go again. He could still feel the echo of Quinn's winter cold lips on his. "That hasn't changed Quinn, Christmas or not." 

Quinn smiled. "Good. Otherwise your gift wouldn't be worth half as much as it is."

Eliot looked down at the flash drive, twirling it around his fingers. "What's on it?" 

"Names, dates, locations. People I've worked with, people I've worked for. Not all of them, but, you know… the really bad ones. Some evidence, too, and some starting points to find more evidence." Quinn shrugged. "I'm officially out of the game."

Eliot blinked. "You…?"

"Retired from working for the bad guys." Quinn nodded. "I figured Hardison could do something with that," Quinn said, taking the flash drive from Eliot's hand. "He already has a copy, actually. Wouldn't tell me where you lived without proof."

Eliot snorted. That would explain Hardison's shifty behavior these last couple of weeks. Eliot had put it down to Hardison trying to keep Parker's Christmas present a secret at all costs. (Parker had figured it out even before Eliot had, but neither of them had the heart to tell Hardison.)

"So," Quinn said, giving Eliot a hopeful look, "do you have any plans for Christmas? I might be in town for a while."

Eliot laughed and grabbed a fistful of Quinn's shirt, pulling him in until their mouth crashed together. Quinn dropped the flash drive but didn't lose his balance, his hands finding Eliot's shoulders. Quinn moaned when Eliot slid his hands down to his waist and pulled him closer, bringing them into full body contact. He returned the favor by running his fingers through Eliot's sleep-mussed hair, his fingernails scraping tantalizingly over Eliot's scalp and sending shivers down his spine.

Eliot didn't know what kind of picture they made, Quinn in his nice suit and Eliot in his sweat pants and his ratty sleep shirt, kissing desperately in the middle of his living room, but he knew without a doubt that this would be his best Christmas yet.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're into Leverage and haven't checked out this year's [Leverage Secret Santa](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2015_Leverage_Secret_Santa_Exchange/works) entries yet, then you're missing out! ♥


End file.
